Raijintek Pallas Review

Performance Analysis

We weren't expecting stellar cooling given the Pallas' compact dimensions and quiet fan but it performed very well in our LGA1150 test system. It's CPU delta T of 47°C with an ambient air temperature of 23°C was a massive 9°C cooler than the Thermalright True Spirit 120M and even enough to eclipse a couple of the small tower coolers on test such as the Gelid Tranquillo Rev. 2.


The 4.4GHz Core i7-2600K under the hood is a pretty toasty customer but the Pallas is clearly capable of handling an overclocked CPU, although this was in our tower case and not the tight confines of a case that demands low-profile coolers. Switching to PWM mode from our standard 12V test saw what little noise there was reigned in almost completely and this only saw a 2°C rise in the CPU delta T.

This is great news because at anything lower than 12V, the fan is incredibly quiet and easily drowned out by the graphics card and case fans so hooking it up to your motherboard's 4-pin CPU fan header will hopefully result in a very quiet system, at least where the CPU cooler is concerned.

Sadly, like many before it, the Pallas wasn't able to tame our LGA2011 test system with our toasty overclocked Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition CPU claiming another victim. The Pallas lasted nearly nine minutes before the temperature just edged over our CPU's thermal limit and it started throttling to reign in the thermals. It's a very tough test, though, and the Pallas made a valiant effort and may well cope at stock speed.

Conclusion

The Pallas enters a fairly crowded market with cheaper, smaller low-profile coolers being better options for non-overclocked systems or those on a budget. Also, if your case requires a low profile cooler but has space for a radiator somewhere, an all-in-one liquid cooler could potentially offer much better cooling, particularly for LGA2011.

However, it does find a place between the two in both in terms of price and performance and coupled with its good-looks and low noise, if you need a CPU cooler below 70mm, the Pallas is definitely worth considering for LGA1150 or similar-TDP systems. Just make sure you have plenty of patience when it comes to fitting it.